Greetings all,
A few years have gone by, again.  Wow, where does the time go?  Things here at The Compound are pretty much the same.  The restaurant didn't work out. We did the research and found the best way to do it would be out of the budget we had going in. So...we didn't do it. Probably saved all of Da's investment and our time and investment ,too. 

The dags are well. The Bleu pup grew up and got herself all knocked up! Dumb dag. Nine pups from a Blockhead-ed pit bull. They turned out gorgeous and plenty smart, we found great homes for them all and, of course, we kept the all black one. She's Dot, turned out that she had a tiny spot of white on her chest and one on the tip of her chin. So 2 Dot she is. Fast as heck and a stone cold tree-rat killer! The brown dag, Faun, and her are the terror of the Compound, barking at all who pass and the stray breeze or critter that's dumb enough to go by.

We got to go visit Oregon this summer for the 70th anniversary of me Da's birth! Spent a few days with him and his lovely bride Anne. Went out to the Valley and caught up with my brother from another mother, Cole, and his boys. All seems well there, despite a contentious divorce. His heart is broken but he continues to impart great wisdom and an excellent example to those young men of his and they are thriving. We went back out to the Eastern desert and spent a few more days at Da's enjoying the family and celebrating his birthday.  Good to see my Aunt Marty, Uncle Gene and my cousin Graham. I hadn't seen them or him in more than 15 years! It was good to catch up. My sister, Sarah and her young men came down from Spokane for the shin-dig and allowed as she had an old car that was just taking up space and money at her place and did we want to have it? Now you'll recall that I had gotten an old Honda from my great friend Craig a few years back. Well, the one my Sis had is 5 years newer and has 70k miles less that that old one. So me being the pragmatic that I am said "Sure! We'd love to take that car off your hands!" and then it dawned on me that it was 3000+ miles back to The Compound from Spokane and our budget was low at best. So began the fastest and least expensive trip across our Great Republic that I've ever taken. Five days from coast to coast with a couple stops at relatives of The Rev's on the way. We had a good visit with her Sis in Missouri and a day with Her Ma in Shreveport. We stopped in the Big Easy for a drink and a snack and made it home from Shreveport with the stop in NOLA in 16 hours! Long trip in just a few days, but we got to hit the monuments in South Dakota and Wyoming and a couple of battlefields in between there and home. Good trip all in all, if brief.

A special congratulations to my Ma in Oregon, Anne Graham. She having been duly elected by her city to serve on the City Counsel! She's going to be  a great asset to that community! She's surely been good for our family and a sweeter lady you'll never meet.  So, good luck, Annie, do good work!!

The big red bike is finally getting a revamp! Yay! I managed to save enough on my pittance salary and some help from the family to get it fixed a year or more ago and then the poor Rev's implants deflated. Poor dear was heartbroken. So, the bike fund turned into the boob fund. I sent her off to Shreveport to Ma's place and The Rev's old friend, Dr. Dan, fixed her all up!  Oh my, does she look good!  That old friend of hers did a bang up warranty job on her, sent the old bags back to the factory and got her the newest and hottest technology. As I said, whew! She sure looks great! Thankful for all the help from those who donated, you know who you are.

So I saved and scraped up and another few bucks and found a used motor with low miles online for cheap. Drove to Melbourne and dragged it back home. Got the old broken one out of the big red bike a few weeks ago and dropped the new (to me) motor and a couple of boxes of parts off at the bike Dr. and it should up and going here in a few days!  I can't wait to feel that breeze in my face and taste the bugs in my teeth again! It'll be good for my soul, I NEED that ride daily to keep myself sane. It's been way too long and I am like a junkie waiting for my next fix.

So I'm getting close to the letter limit of my poor old hands and in closing...I'd like to say thanks to all who help us get through this wonderful life in all the ways that you do help. All the supportive love and collective good wishes, not to mention a few bucks here and there, continue to bear us up. Thank you all so very much.

Enjoy the life you have, it's the only one you get here.
Rainman